


I'm On Fire Again, Aren't I?

by CornerSwords



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Gen, Metaverse (Persona 5), Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ryuji Kind Of Knows What's Going On
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29967591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CornerSwords/pseuds/CornerSwords
Summary: Question: what if Persona 5, but Dying Will Flames?Starts out as effectively a Flame AU, but crosses over properly later. Probably gonna be fairly long.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira & Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	1. Ignition

Day One was going... poorly, so far.

Breakfast had been nice - his host, Sojiro Sakura, had been kind enough to make him a plate of curry (the cafe's signature dish, and honestly - he could see why. It was really delicious stuff, the complex flavors playing well with the bold, just-shy-of-tear-inducing spiciness without being overwhelming; he had never actually had curry before, but _hot damn,_ Leblanc made it work) that had warmed him all the way through the train ride, which was cramped beyond anything he had ever seen. The aftereffects of the other day's accident... it hadn't been _fun,_ but he had been able to ride the high up until the rain started coming down.

Then there was that girl - wearing a jacket a lot like the blazer he had shrugged on that very morning, although it had a hood, so probably a fellow student at Shujin - and the guy she had gotten into a car with...

Honestly, he was pretty worried about her. The bleached-blonde... he wasn't really sure what to call the other student he had met, just after that - there was kind of a jock-delinquent look he had about him, but the feeling he gave off - he obviously hated that square-jawed guy, Kamoshida, but there was an odd lack of the 'dangerous' air... that had actually been hanging thin around Kamoshida, come to think of it.

Well, Kamoshida before, in the car. Things had kind of taken a left-turn into awful after that, when the blonde had led him to _a medieval castle,_ Western-styled even, and in their shared confusion they had wandered in. Kind of a bad idea, in retrospect - they probably should have just turned around and tried to retrace their steps through the alleyway - but... _castle._ With a drawbridge and everything. Plus, they were right in the middle of the city - it couldn't possibly be _that_ dangerous.

...which was shaping up to be a _lethal_ mistake. First knocked out and thrown into - some kind of dungeon? Which was giving him really _awful_ flashbacks to the stranger-danger talk - and then Kamoshida had turned up again, calling the blonde 'Sakamoto' and also dressed in a crown, a thick bathrobe, slippers, a speedo, _and that was it._ More flashbacks, there. Especially with the masked, armored goons pushing them around, and Kamoshida talking to Sakamoto, _beating_ on the blonde, calling himself a king and acting like - some kind of comic book villain, except this was _real_ and-

-and then Kamoshida was going to have Sakamoto _executed._

Akira didn't really know either of them, didn't know what was going on - the voice that had been chanting _this can't be real_ had been silent since his classmate had whimpered that he didn't want to die. All he could see was-

_-side street at night - a cry for help - "Damn brat, I'll sue!"-_

-a flash of blue, a familiar voice that he didn't recognize at all-

_**-it's all falling apart again and this time - this time there's no second chance-** _

**What's the matter? Are you simply going to watch?**

A heartbeat was supposed to keep his body moving. Why did it feel like that one had stopped him cold?

**Are you forsaking him to save yourself?**

Color darkened, draining at the edges of his vision into thin lines of not-sight - he couldn't - he _couldn't_ \- he couldn't even _understand_ what he _couldn't do-_

**Death awaits him if you do nothing.**

But the pressure on his shoulders, in his head, in his _heart-_

**Was your previous decision... a mistake, then?**

No.

It wasn't.

**Very well.**

A heartbeat was supposed to keep his body moving. Why did it feel like that one had _set him aflame?_

**Vow to me.**

Everything - he could feel _everything_ \- every nerve, every _cell, every atom of his body was on **fire-**_

_**I am thou, thou art I.** _

Words that were so very _painfully_ his own echoed, tone and pitch matched by the wild flickering of the inferno that had consumed him, his body spasming and screaming in protest as the flames _heated,_ but still-

_**Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice...** _

-still he found voice enough to scream-

**_Call upon my name, and release thy rage!_ **

-and _scream-_

**_Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!_ **

-"Execute him!"

**_"That's enough."_ **

It was almost peaceful, really. The fear, and the anger, and the sorrow - like ice it flooded out of his very core, from the marrow of his bones and blood of his veins, turning burning raging _murderous_ flames to little more than mist in the air. Freezer-burn; caught between two extremes, he still found balance.

"You desire to be killed that much? _Fine!"_

Something smashed into his face. It broke his glasses.

As it turned out, taking the fear out of the equation let quite a bit of that Flame burn free.

* * *

Ryuji Sakamoto liked to think he was a pretty normal kind of guy. Sure he was a delinquent, even if he didn't actually do any of the usual delinquent stuff - for all that Shujin was a total hole, it didn't really _have_ delinquents, so he kinda stood out for even being a pretty lame sort of delinquent - but he played video games, he hated tests, and he loved his ma, just like any other normal high school guy. Just because he had been marked as 'The Track Traitor' by that effin' jerk Kamoshida's twisted plan, that didn't mean he was really any different than he was before - just, uh, angrier was probably a good way to put it.

He had _tried_ to make a run for it with the transfer student, like any other guy would have, but these goons in the masks were way stronger than they looked and knocking one over had actually been _really_ hard. It was kind of touching in a really stupid way that glasses-guy hadn't made for the door without him - Kamoshida going to jail and _rotting_ for all this crap woulda been nice, but hey, someone actually cared a little! Even if it was just, like, the minimum 'oh crap that guy's gonna die if I don't do something' kind of caring. It was nice, was the point.

And then Kamoshida had beaten on him for a bit - sucked, and he wasn't really thinking straight by the end of it. It was familiar, too, really uncomfortably familiar - had the old pervert seriously gotten _stronger_ since he had snapped his leg, back then, or was that just the trauma? - and then there was a _sword_ pointed at him and glasses-guy was screaming like he'd straight-up lost his mind, which was weird but, y'know, sword.

And now glasses-guy was on fire.

Like, in cartoons - that kind of on fire, the whole shebang, going straight up to the roof. He wasn't sure the flecks of color drifting through the flames - there was a little of everything in there, blues and greens and purples and indigos - honestly he wasn't really sure what the difference between indigo and purple was but he was pretty sure they were both in there - to go with the reds and yellows and oranges, but in... different amounts, kind of? And it was all changing, all twisting around the guy, who incidentally didn't really seem much bothered by the fact that he had just burst into flames strong enough to blast _three_ of the armored dudes back from where they had been about to sword _him._

Actually, he looked more concerned with - something on his face, maybe? Hard to see, but he was kind of reaching for his face, and - and holy _shit_ that was definitely blood, he _knew_ what blood smelled like after getting beaten on by Kamoshida _(twice,_ the _jackass)_ and some of it was definitely joining that cloud of smoke hanging heavy around the transfer student's fire-

Then glasses-guy burst into fire _again,_ more of it this time - kinda bluey-purple, this time, and it was like _under_ the main fire? - and there was a crapload of _chains_ just _levitating_ outta nowhere and wind just _howling_ , those jerks in the armor weren't getting back up anytime soon if it almost picked him right up off the ground even though he was slumped on the floor, and _then_ there was... he was _pretty_ sure that was some kinda spirit monster. It was wearing a pretty badass red suit and had wicked horns and wings, but other than that, no clue what it was.

Actually, Ryuji had no clue what was going on in general. He would have asked, but, like, "What the-?" was pretty much the best he could do in terms of voice right then, and-

**_"I am the pillager of twilight - Arsène!"_ **

...that did not help at all. And the transfer student was wearing, like, an awesome coat now? Completely different clothes, but the coat really jumped out at him. Possibly because it was on fire.

 _ **"I am the rebel's soul that resides within you."**_ the spirit monster, Arsène, did _not_ wanna make that thing mad, **_"If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis."_**

He could not possibly begin to overstate the amount of fire that was going on. Which made it _super weird_ that nothing was, like, _burned?_

"Who the hell are you?!"

Oh, crap, right! Kamoshida!

"Guards!"

Ryuji wanted to _puke_ looking at the goons wrench themselves to their feet. Both on principle, because seriously, _Kamo-effin'-shida,_ and because that was _not_ how living things moved. That was how _puppets_ moved, jerking like someone was pulling invisible strings, armor clanking against itself as they shot up into a weird, hunched-over pose-

"Start by killing that one!"

Then they jumped off their feet, spasmed, and melted into black-red _sludge_ that transformed into two, like, pumpkin doll things? Except they were flying. And kid-sized. And...

Yeah, he was starting to get the sense that this whole _thing_ going on right now was spirit monsters.

"You'll learn the true strength of my men!"

Which both made a lot of sense and was _entirely terrifying._

**_"This power of mine is yours... kill them however you want. Run wild to your heart's content!"_ **

Case in effin' point.

And where the heck did the transfer student get a _knife?!_


	2. Bros Before Foes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira and Ryuji beat up some jerks, escape from a cell, talk a bit, just bros being bros you know how it is.

There was barely any room to maneuver - the cell wasn't large enough to circle properly, the pumpkin-headed creatures nervously laughing as they advanced on him blocking him into the back of it with the wooden 'bed'. Sakamoto still sat against the wall, apparently forgotten by the creatures in their haste to follow Kamoshida's orders - a sword lay next to him, the property of their vanquished comrade.

Undone by his awakening alone - it was almost hilariously pathetic. Their king stood at the cell door, teeth grit in a rage summoned up to hide the fear dancing in his eyes...

 ** _"The foes before you are nothing, mere shadows to be unmade."_** Arsène decided, his unearthly voice resounding with the rattling of their chains, almost amused in its dismissiveness. He came apart, dissolving back into the flames; **_"This crude set is yours, my dearest accomplice. Is there a bell, that you are still waiting?"_**

"...ah, no." Akira breathed, almost surprised at the sound of his own voice without the otherworldly echo of his... _accomplice._ It almost felt _wrong_ \- but he had more important matters to attend to. Imperial flame rose around him with his renewed focus, drifting lazily on the very smoke it gave off, rather like a viper poised to strike. "You're right... I've waited more than long enough."

"Y-you're not going anywhere, criminal!" one of the pumpkin-heads declared, voice reedy, hollow of the confidence it was meant to carry and shaking to the rhythm of its fear. "In the name of King Kamoshi-!"

The knife in his hand, a curved and dark thing, lunged inexpertly for its eye - wildly vicious in a way the frizzy-haired teen was genuinely surprised to find himself feeling, bronze flame curling around it hungrily. The monster carved like any old pumpkin, spraying chunks as he chopped it an extension to its empty eye-hole; the panicked screeching of it having caught aflame in brilliant orange barely even registered as he brought the knife back in; a hurried exclamation of _"Agi!"_ from the other one sent him back on instinct, almost tripping over that bed; surprise cut through the intoxicating blend of power and rage that had taken over his mind, seeing the barely-there ember in the creature's lantern flare and release a moderately-sized ball of fire directly into the other's, painful heat licking at his retreating hand as it passed.

The damage he had done melted away, just one more dash of wild oddness to add to the pile. His own flames curled around him protectively, catching to the wood - none of it burned him, warmed him certainly but not enough to scorch, not like flame was supposed to be.

A mystery... but one for later - an indignant "You'll pay for that, hee-ho!" telegraphed a swing of the lantern in his general direction. He was almost pinned now, the second one floating closer with its own lantern raised angrily.

Before, he wouldn't have been able to step through them - even clumsy and inexpert a dodge as it was, he wouldn't have been able to duck under the first lantern by a hair's width, barreling through the empty cloak of the second monster to get to the other side, setting it aflame in that beautiful shade of amber. But Arsène's strength gave him speed and surety, and wine-drenched fire set his path; he made it easily enough, the two monsters squealing in panic again as he did.

"You like that, you son of a bitch?!"

The moment's reprieve he bought was enough to blink in confusion; Sakamoto had apparently tackled Kamoshida while the monsters were occupied, wrestling with the mad 'king' near the door to the cell. The teacher blinked back, pain clouding his golden eyes, before the blonde smashed his face into the cobblestone again; dark brown eyes jumped up to his, bruises already blooming across his face - "I've got this clown! Finish those things off!" he yelled, and Akira grinned wildly in return.

"With pleasure," the probie told the delinquent, before turning on his heel with a hand to his face. "This has gone on _long enough!"_

A brief pain - like peeling a too-stuck bandage, nothing like the shrieking agony of its first removal - and the mask came free, catching in an amethyst blaze before unfurling into Arsène's distinctive form and the chains that encircled them both once more. The dapper demon let out an infernal chuckle, even as something dark and malevolent gathered in his clawed hand.

 ** _"Eiha."_** Akira commanded, and Arsène was all too happy to oblige; both of the pumpkin-monsters, just finally turning to try and attack him again, vanished into the stream of black that screamed from his hand and did not emerge, even as the pool of accursed power drained away to nowhere. It left him feeling... a bit light-headed, actually - threat gone, the flames began to die down as well, Arsène vanishing with them and a satisfied cackle.

Akira turned again, the dying roaring of the flames letting something more like crunching stone reach his ears; Sakamoto was pressed against the wall now, kicking violently as Kamoshida punched small _craters_ in it, barely managing to keep his head out of the way-

The frizzy-haired transfer student took a single bound, shoving his knife _(where had he gotten a knife, actually?)_ into a pocket of his coat; pressing a shoulder against the cage's bars, he rebounded off and shoved the creepy old flasher back with all his might, sending him sprawling with a surprised shriek.

"Thanks for the save, bro..." Sakamoto wheezed, stumbling forwards into a half-crouch. "Crap, that effin' pervert really did get stronger! I'm gonna bruise like crazy, aren't I?"

"Not done yet." Akira corrected him, quickly scanning the cell, "we have to get our bags, and - the key!"

The blonde blinked, eyes locking onto it as well - the key-ring had fallen right next to his feet, discarded at the beginning of the fight. "Uh, y'mean this? Why - _oh!"_

He scooped it up without a missed beat as Akira snatched up their school bags, following his partner in apparently-crime out the door at more of a jump than a sprint - it really wasn't a large cell - and then spun on it as Kamoshida scrambled to his feet, fumbling with the ring while Akira slammed the cell door closed with a resounding crash. "No, no, no, _jackpot!"_ he declared, sticking them into the door as quickly as he could - a quiet _click,_ and all Kamoshida could do was slam into the door, reaching for the two boys as they backed away quickly.

"Damn you! Damn you both for going against the King!" he shouted, rattling the cell door furiously.

"You ain't no _ki_ _ng,_ ya damn flasher!" Sakamoto snarled back at the imprisoned teacher, before taking a half-step blind and shouting in surprise as he went sprawling backwards, towards the sound of running water.

A red glove closed quick as a flash around his wrist; Akira hauled him back up, the bags strapped around his shoulders diagonally. "Careful. Don't want to crack your head after all _that."_ he joked halfheartedly, dark eyes glinting with concern behind his mask.

"Uh, right. Thanks for the save - again..." Sakamoto mumbled, slightly red around the cheeks - possibly embarrassment, possibly damage from the fight. "Hey though, what the heck _was_ that just now?! And - your clothes?!"

Akira blinked, looking down just in time to see indigo flare around his body once more; it settled quickly, leaving him back in his school clothes... and wearing glasses instead of the mask that had summoned Arsène, which was an unpleasant thing to realize after all _that._

 _"You bastards!"_ Kamoshida howled, bringing both their attention back to him for all of three seconds.

"This's effin' nuts..." Sakamoto mumbled, turning his attention back to the key-ring in his hand before looking back up at Akira. "Anyways, let's scram. I don't wanna get caught by any more of those goons."

"Agreed... you think those might open the doors out of here?" Akira asked, glancing at the keys. "Only one of them was for the cell."

"Crap, good idea. I was just about to throw this in the river so they couldn't let that bastard out." the blonde grumbled, pocketing the ring.

Ignoring another yell from the crazy teacher, Akira turned to survey the area. They were pretty clearly underground, in some kind of dungeon - bricks and wooden support beams made up the place, as well as cobblestone for the main path and the cell floors. The murk, lit only by hanging torches, wasn't easy to see through, but the muddy stink of the place and the fast-flowing river that split the path weren't exactly lifting his spirits. There was only one way to go from where they were - up the path, towards a steel door.

"Let's get a move on, before more of them come." Akira suggested, heading up towards it at a brisk jog. "Hey, um - Sakamoto?"

"Uh? What's up?"

"My name's Kurusu. Akira Kurusu."

"Oh, right! Name's Ryuji." the blonde replied, grinning easily. "Ryuji Sakamoto, if y'wanna be formal about it."

"Nice to meet you - and thanks." Akira replied, coming to a stop at the door - a quick check of the handle proved it locked, unfortunately.

"You're thankin' _me?!_ Bro, I didn't pull superpowers out of _my_ butt." Ryuji protested lightly, stepping around him with the key-ring in hand. "I still got no clue what's going on, but we got outta that because of _you,_ no question - shit, none of these work? Howsat even possible?"

"Probably a second key ring or something... we got really lucky grabbing the right one." Akira grimaced. "And maybe so, but _you_ beat up Kamoshida while I was distracted with those goons of his. If I was alone in there, I probably would've gotten blindsided, and he was putting _holes_ in that wall."

"Crap... yeah, well. We'll call it a team effort, how about that?" Ryuji suggested, stepping back from the door with an annoyed frown. "But how're we gonna keep going like this? I ain't feeling lucky enough to go back to that cell, and this door sure as heck ain't opening."

Something pinged in Akira's mind - not the stream, that was blocked off by the cell-steel wall, but... it split the path, and-

"The other side of the stream!" he pointed out, eyes fixing on the broken bridge. "The door over there is open - we'll be able to keep going from there."

"For real?!" Ryuji exclaimed, backing up to get a better look - and pumping a fist victoriously as he spotted the open door. "Alright! Let's get a move on!"

The gap was barely even there, really - even as beaten-up as they were, both of the boys cleared it with ease. Akira dawdled on the other side to spot for his prison break buddy, but they were both through the door at a run seconds later, turning to follow the only path to-

"Crap, a wall? And the river's wider here." Akira muttered, skidding to a halt. "Looks like this is a main path?"

"Are those _cages?"_ Ryuji asked, shuddering. "Man, this place is really seriously medieval... oh, hey! Akira, look - some of them fell into the water right there, a little bit higher up!"

Akira considered them, wearing a skeptical frown. "Can we get across on those...? Not that there's really anywhere else to try." he corrected, looking around again. "Guess we haven't got a choice."

"Let's get to hoppin' then!" Ryuji declared, and the two broke into a run again; it took a little bit longer this time for them to get across, finding another row of cells to greet them - Akira slowed then as Ryuji ran ahead, towards another steel door blocking the path, looking into the cells they passed.

"All the cells are empty..." he murmured, poking his head into the fourth one - which was actually even open - as the blonde ahead of him yelled in inarticulate frustration. "...I wonder if - hey, Ryuji! Check this out!"

"What, the cell? Is there a guy in it or...?" the jock asked, coming back at a jog, before stopping cold as he looked in as well, past Akira's crouched form to- "-that's a _huge_ effin' hole in the wall!"

"I think this goes all the way through to the next set of cells... and that it's big enough to fit us." Akira decided, peering into it. "Come on, we're gonna have to crawl."

"Crap... can't you just summon up that spirit monster of yours and have him break down the door?" he complained, though he did get down to follow the transfer student through the hole. "Damn it, my bag's stuck!"

"I don't... think so. Without that mask..." Akira muttered, wincing as he pulled himself out the other side - thank goodness, the cell on that side was open too. "Which doesn't spell good things for us if we get caught," he called back, stepping out onto the path.

"That effin' _sucks,_ man." Ryuji sympathized, forcing his bag out of the hole after him. "But we just gotta not get caught, right? Let's keep moving!"

Akira blinked, turning away from the drawbridge he had been looking at to watch Ryuji break into another dash - _no, bad idea-_

"Hey, hold up!" he said, grabbing the blonde's arm. "Let's go across the drawbridge, come on."

"What? Why?"

"...just trust me, alright? I've got a bad feeling about the other way."

Ryuji shook his head. "Eh, whatever. I'm not the guy who got superpowers, right? Lead the way, man."

Akira grinned weakly as they both turned and ran across the drawbridge, leaving behind another set of empty cells. "Thanks. I think I see stairs over there anyways-"

"Whoa, dude, we gotta hide!"

"Wha-?"

Akira clammed up as Ryuji pulled him down behind a pile of barrels and boxes, peering surreptitiously through a crack in the pile; taking a hint, he looked over the barrel he was behind, watching with wide eyes as a group of armored goons ran up the stairs on the other side.

"Those guys were lookin' for us, right?" Ryuji muttered, frowning. "Hunch paid off, bro - we woulda run face-first into those jerks if we kept going that way."

"We can't stay down here, this area is too small." Akira worried, looking around. "They'll find us in no time if we're still here when they double back. Let's get up those stairs."

"You think they go to an exit?" Ryuji asked, as they started up the spiral staircase two at a time - then almost tripped again, as a scream sounded from ahead. "Holy crap... or maybe not?"

"I think they'll get us closer to one, at least." Akira argued, slowing but not stopping as he kept up the stairs. "We have to be underground if there's a river flowing through here, right?"

"Yeesh, and doubling back ain't gonna help now. Alright, let's keep moving."

"Hey, Ryuji?" Akira asked as they kept up the stairs - huffing a little but not feeling the burn quite yet - "I - back there, Kamoshida said something about..."

He trailed off, the silence behind him oppressive - for a few moments, at least. Ryuji let out an angered, but steady, breath, slowing a little more on the steps as he did.

"...yeah, that jerk's gotten in my face before. Y'know, he's the reason the entire school sees me as a delinquent?" Ryuji muttered, resentful. "Shujin used to have a track team, and _I_ used to be the star member. Like, straight-up top of the score board."

"He dissolved the track team... and blamed you, somehow?" Akira asked, blinking. "That's... why?"

"'Cuz he's a glory hound." the blonde snorted, dismissive, venom creeping into his voice as he elaborated; "Frickin' Olympic medalist and he coaches the volleyball team - wanted that the be the school's one and only big thing. He ran the track team to the bone - punished anyone who wasn't sprinting the whole way through practice, forced us to run outside no matter how bad the weather for it got, _especially_ if it was sunny and 'just' hot, and not a drop of water for anyone but _him."_

"To the bone, huh..." Akira murmured, grimacing. "But..."

"And then, when he realized the last few of us who didn't walk off from his bullcrap weren't gonna break? Then he got _personal."_ Ryuji ranted, throwing his arms up into the air wildly as his light jog turned into a furious stomp. "Started spreading rumors about all of us, fake stuff far as I know. Warned people off from us, made us all outcasts to the school. But then he found out about my damn useless _dad,_ and-!"

The ex-jock just about choked on his own rage, the realization of what he had been about to say slamming into him harder than Kamoshida's fists; he looked up, grimacing defensively through wet eyes, at the guy he had been about to spill his guts to.

Quiet sympathy stared back.

"...he found out that my dad was an abusive piece of crap who walked out on us years ago." Ryuji quietly admitted. "The reason I was still _on_ the track team by then... I loved the rush, but I hated Kamoshida a heck of a lot more. But I was _damn good at it,_ and - if I had won a scholarship off that..."

He trailed off again, a sullen silence setting in for a moment. Then he grit his teeth, and turned his head back up - sorrow turned to _rage._ "That _son of a bitch_ started talkin' crap about how my ma _deserved_ what that useless old bastard did to her." he informed Akira, "and I _lost it._ Took a swing at him."

"Oh. _Oh."_ Akira said quietly. "Then-?"

"He beat the crap outta me. Broke my leg, bad." Ryuji snarled. "Called it 'self defense' and the entire school just _went along with it,_ and gave him _exactly_ what he wanted - the track team _gone,_ and me, the guy who had been the biggest thorn in his side, _ruined._ I came back to a school tellin' me I was the _Track Traitor_ who had ruined it for everyone else, an'..."

The uncertainty there, at the very end - the implication that there was some _merit_ to that-

Akira turned around and kicked the door open, into another section of prison cells.

"Ryuji, I need you to listen to me right now, okay?" the transfer student snarled, the blonde behind him blinking uncertainly. _"People have limits."_

The gloom was lighter, up here - and through the door, they could hear the sounds of wailing throughout the area. Akira turned left, took in the kids scattered around through the cells and cages, and let the rage get a little deeper as he stepped through another steel gate.

"People have _limits,_ and when they reach those limits they either _react_ or they _break._ Kamoshida _stomped all over your limits,_ and I've known you for all of an hour and a half and I already know you wouldn't _break_ when you hit the end of your rope." he continued, stopping by the riverside and turning to face the gobsmacked ex-jock. "You reached your limit, you _reacted,_ and just because that's what Kamoshida _wanted_ doesn't mean it wasn't _the right thing to do."_

He threw out an arm, pointing at the kid in the nearest cage - a kid wearing a Shujin uniform, which was something to file away for later.

"If it takes _this_ for people to see that he's a manipulative, greedy _lunatic?_ That's on _them."_

"B-but - they _did_ see that, though... everyone else was toughing it out too." Ryuji said, voice small and doubtful. "They - _I'm_ the one who broke first. It's because of him, because of the shit _he_ pulled, and I _know_ that, but-"

Akira laid his hands on his friend's shoulders, fixing grey eyes to brown.

"The _only_ thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." he said, quiet and certain. "When no one else would, _you did something."_

Then offered a smile.

"When we get out of here? _We're_ gonna do something."

Something a bit lighter than disbelief hung heavy in Ryuji's eyes - something in the space between that and incomprehension. It hurt - it cut _deep_ \- seeing that kind of uncertainty in someone else's eyes, seeing what that kind of _betrayal_ could do from the outside.

But if no one was going to believe in them, then to hell with it - they'd just have to believe in each other.

Something of that resolve almost seemed to echo in the blonde's brown eyes, before he rubbed his wrist over them, grinning with that odd kind of happiness that painted tracks from the corners of one's eyes. "That bastard Kamoshida's not even gonna know what hit'em, bro." Ryuji told him, and if that same joy was kind of choking his voice, well, that was no one's business but theirs.

"He'll never see it coming." Akira replied confidently, giving Ryuji a light pat on the back before turning back to the path. "Come on - we gotta get out of here to take him down, right?"

"Right!" Ryuji agreed, falling into step behind as they started back along the way at a brisk walk - still wiping at his eyes, but grateful for the reassurance and the distraction alike. "Let's get outta here and kick that pervy old bastard straight to the curb!" he declared.

"Well... I think I might be able to help with that?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's probably gonna be awkward in the future.


	3. A Cat In Gloves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NEW PARTY MEMBER: Morgana! And the dialogue and activity is starting to diverge more from the game-script here. Not by much, but, y'know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This goes from Ryuji-thinking to general narrating without a marker, but it should be pretty clear - I just wanted to make sure you guys knew.

Sure, yeah, spilling his guts prob'ly wasn't the _smartest_ thing to do. Getting distracted in the middle of a freakin' prison break was just kinda beggin' to get caught again and executed for real this time, especially since Akira's superpowers were, it looked like, kind of a one-time deal? And yeah, spilling his life story - not _all_ of it, no way was he going into the crap that run-off bastard had put them through back then, but the important-right-then, Kamoshida-that-other-bastard-relevant parts? Maybe a little bit distracting and emotional and all that crap.

But... it _sucked,_ man. Going through every single day listening to the _whispers_ behind your back because _goddamn everyone_ knew your personal crap. Limpin' around a little after school on rainy days because Kamoshida had been a _thorough_ kind'a bastard - still was, if this effin' nuthouse was any kinda hint - and the break might'a set right but the scars ran bone-deep. Knowin' everyone thought you were a no-good hotheaded delinquent, because they never shut the eff up about it, and knowin' they all still thought the sun shone right outta Kamoshida's ass.

Bein' alone, an' surrounded.

Hadn't always been that way - not even just the track team, Ryuji hadn't been that much've an outcast way back when, but... he didn't get _angry_ at the people who'd run off, not like he did at the old bastards who'd wrecked his life for kicks. Hangin' around the school delinquent was just as quick a recipe for becomin' an outcast yourself, not to mention those damn whispers followin' him wherever he went. It was _oppressive,_ he didn't blame anyone for hatin' that crap.

Akira, though? Akira, he got the sense, got some whispers of 'is own. Not just the glimpses he had got between kickin' Kamoshida's ass back in that cell, goin' after those pumpkin-head spirit monsters with that knife he had pulled outta nowhere and a smile like an axe murderer (seriously, scarier than that psycho spirit thingy in Two Truths and a Lie, would've been a real bad sign if he hadn't pulled superpowers outta nowhere just to save Ryuji's dumb ass), but... he _understood,_ was what the frizzy-headed dumbass had been tryin' to say with the speech he pulled outta his butt.

He hadn't _meant_ to spill so much until he was more'n halfway through it - prob'ly woulda stopped short if his new buddy hadn't been givin' him a look somewhere between 'kicked puppy' an' his own ma's sad face - but now that it was out there...

Honestly, Ryuji couldn't bring himself to regret a word of it. Bros gotta be honest with each other, right?

Besides, it meant he could feel justified for glarin' at the glasses-wearin', gigglin' jerk after damn near jumpin' outta his skin without gettin' that sinkin' feeling that came with any new bad blood, knowin' that helpless shrug meant 'we're cool' and turnin' his attention back to the...

...eh, he was gonna go with 'spirit monster'. But maybe this was another friendly one?

While he was bein' honest, Ryuji actually felt pretty well-disposed to the thing. He had almost jogged face-first into a wall - the gloom was still pretty thick up here, even if it had lightened a bit from down in the lower level, an' he hadn't exactly been payin' attention to the path - until it had called out to them, and it didn't _look_ like it was gonna jump out and try to sacrifice them on a frickin' altar for Kamoshida. Partially because it was in a cell, an' all. _They_ had just been in a cell, an' all these Shujin-uniform-wearin' dudes were in cells - an' wearin' some kinda crazy metal tube thing on their heads, which was just even more freaky - so the cell was actually a good sign, right there.

"You're not soldiers in this castle, right?" the thing said - low, like it wasn't tryin' to attract attention - which, y'know, also made sense. "Get me out of here! Look, the key's right there!"

It was a short, round-headed thing - like, _tiny,_ but just big enough that it probably couldn't squeeze through the bars. Mostly because of its really round head. But that, the little white gloves, the utility belt, the bandanna that was exactly the same shade of yellow as his own shirt - it all said 'spirit monster' to him, but lookin' at the basic shape of it, the thing kinda reminded him of "...a cat?"

 _"I am not a cat!"_ it hissed at - Akira, wow, they had really been on the same wavelength there. "Say that again and I'll make you regret it!"

A rustle of armor from back down the way - "Crap, they're catchin' up already..." Ryuji muttered, digging into his pocket frantically. A quick check of his phone had him grimacing. "And there's still no service. Ain't there any way to contact someone outside...?"

"You said you could help us take down Kamoshida." Akira said, voice low but intent, crouching right outside the cell door. "But to do that, _we have to get out of here._ Can you help us with that?"

"It's a tiny spirit monster thing, bro, how's it gonna help at all?" Ryuji cut in. "Probably just gonna run off without us, too!"

"Tch... if I have to, I probably will run off without you guys." the cat-monster-thing admitted. "But I can fight, and it looks like neither of you can. And aside-"

 _"You_ can fight?!" the blonde interrupted, incredulous. "You're less'n a third our size!"

 _"-and aside from that,_ I know how to get to the exit from here!" it insisted. "You two would be running around blind until the stronger Shadows here caught up to you if you don't let me out, you get it?"

The door clicked.

"We don't have time to argue about it." Akira told them both, as the cell door swung open, letting the startled creature out into the main passage. "For right now, let's trust each other in opposition of Kamoshida."

"Gah, fine." Ryuji muttered, leaning back against a stack of crates with a mildly embarrassed frown. "...sorry, uh... you got a name?"

"It's Morgana," the little creature told them, also looking a little bit like a kid who'd been told off by the teacher - although it quickly shook that off in favor of a more thoughtful expression, looking back down the way as more rustles of armor set the two humans to hiding, "but it's probably best if we don't use our real names in here - who knows who could overhear us. Just call me 'Mona' for short. Do you two have nicknames, monikers, anything like that?"

"Cool. I'm Ryuji, but... um... I guess you can call me... 'Track'?" the ex-jock suggested hastily, twitchily scanning the corridor from behind the far side of the crates. "Good to meet ya and all that crap."

"Name's Akira, but if we're doing code names..." the transfer student muttered. "...any suggestions?"

Mona and Ryuji - crap, wait, 'Track' - exchanged a look, clearly conveying between themselves a total and utter absence of ideas, before Akira nodded, peering around the stone corner he had hidden behind.

"That'll work. 'Mask'." he told them, grinning slightly. "Keep it nice and simple, right?"

"Mask and Track, huh? Better than Frizzy-Hair and Blondie, at least." Mona chuckled, racing out from the crate he had jumped behind. "Alright, let's get a move on. That drawbridge will work, for a start - you two, come on, and stay quiet!"

"The drawbridge? But it's up." Ryuji - geez, _Track,_ this was kinda hard actually - pointed out. "Doesn't look like there's any kind'a lever on this side, either."

"I know that!" Mona shot back, before shaking his oversized head as he trotted up to the ugly stone bust of Kamoshida smiling next to the drawbridge. "Ugh. Hey, Mask - you seem quicker on the draw than Track."

_"Hey!"_

"I can't quite reach it, but you see what's going on with this statue, right?" the strange, cat- _like_ creature said, gesturing up to it. Akira - wait no, Mask - stepped up next to him, eyes narrowing as he reached for the statue; "Yeah, I think I do," he replied as his hand closed around the bust's lower jaw, then pulled it open.

Mona shivered at the topaz glow the statue's eyes gave off, while Mask leaned back, eyelids popping open in slightly disgusted surprise.

"Oh, that's just _gross."_ Ryuji - _crap!_ Track! - muttered as the drawbridge lowered. "Y'mean you gotta do that _every time_ you wanna cross this bridge?"

"It's probably used in place of a lever in several other places, too." Mona told them. "Palaces tend to reuse little stuff like this, after all."

"Palace... and you said Shadow, too, earlier." Akira - honestly, it was just kinda _irritating_ by then how hard it was to keep track of that crap, but _MASK_ \- murmured, as they set across the drawbridge at a brisk run. "I assume those terms are important?"

"Huh? You two don't even know that much... is this your first time in the Metaverse?" Mona mused aloud. "Well, a Shadow is-"

 _"HOLY CRAP!"_ Ryuji shouted, jumping back against his own momentum and collapsing to the cobblestone - just in time to avoid crashing face-first into another of the armored goons. _"Oh, crap crap crap!"_

 _"-that!"_ Mona shouted, bounding off his shoulder to land between the fallen blonde and the goon-soldier, wielding a cutlass _ridiculously_ huge in proportion to his body and concerning in its own right for having been concealed somewhere. "Stay back, amateurs! I'll-"

 **"Eiha!"** _Mask_ commanded, voice cold, and a wave of dark power crashed down on the Shadow(?), dragging it to the floor. His knife glinted in the low torch-light, cutting a stark contrast to the dark, indistinct shadow of the transformed student's frame; his vaguely bird-like snow-white mask, the gleaming gold buttons down his front, and the taunting red of his gloves were the only breaks in the black defined by the sleek tailcoat settling over him, even with the unearthly fire Arsène had vanished into with a cruelly mischievous chuckle burning low around his pointed boots.

"...dude, are you, like... _half_ superpowered now, or...?" Ryuji asked, unable to help himself. Mask blinked, the wild look in his eyes fading into a mild confusion as he examined his formerly-partially-made-of-fire coat before Mona let out a warning hiss.

"If you can fight, then get ready! They're not done yet!" the cat-creature scolded them. The cursed power had drained away again, but the monsters hadn't gone with it - another of the pumpkin-headed things _and_ an ugly-bearded little pink-purple devil creature wearing the most _aggressively_ inappropriate codpiece possible on its slight frame dragged themselves up out of the dark muck, the devil glowering at them dangerously while the pumpkin juddered weakly into the air.

Then Mona grinned, a more subtle brand of danger settling around him. "Though... they will be soon. Come! **_Zorro!"_**

The same ghostly blue flame that burned at Mask's feet swirled around the little creature, before exploding upwards - sending Track scuttling back, as Mask watched with wide eyes. What erupted from it was a creature entirely different to the sleek, impeccably suited demon that answered Akira's call - though there _was_ a certain ineffable _style_ to the enormous silver Z buckling its red belt and delicate smoky detailing on the dress shirt that adorned the absolutely, _ridiculously_ **_massive_** torso of the swordsman, only added to by the flashing of the thin blade it bore.

 **"Garu!"** Mona commanded, and the wind picked up, flinging Zorro's cape back. The swordsman's face couldn't be seen, only a small helm that seemed almost comical atop the sheer bulk of its torso, but it gave the impression of a roguish grin regardless as it thrust its sword up into the air, dispersing the gathered gloom within the dreary hall, then leveled its blade with finality at the pumpkin-head. Sheer force coalesced into green-tinted visibility, wind whipping about the rapier for a moment, before leaping forth - slamming the monster directly into its companion, bowling both over.

"Strike at an enemy's weakness to create an opening... then push through, and strike again!" Mona declared triumphantly, brandishing his own curved cutlass. "Mask, let's go!"

"Right." Mask agreed, eyes flashing with intent as he pulled down into a tense crouch, before launching himself at the downed foes. One hand tore his mask free again as he brandished his knife - **"Cleave!"** brought Arsène into being just above the groaning devil, a demonic smirk inscribed in red on the black mask of his face as he brought his leg down in an axe-blow, while Mona and Mask's blades carved the pumpkin-head into three clean pieces. Both monsters fell apart into pools of red and black instantly under the fury of the assault - not unlike the darkness of Arsène's magic, and draining away just as quickly.

"Holy _crap,_ guys." Track muttered, as the two friendly spirit-monsters exchanged a brief nod before dissolving into the mystic fire that seemed to compose their being. "That was... _damn."_

"Heh, well. That's just the power of the Persona, after all." Mona chuckled, stashing his cutlass in places unknown. Then he turned to Mask, a considering look on his face. "But... you're much more powerful than I expected, for a newbie."

"I feel... more comfortable with it, like this." Akira murmured. "It's not as... _distracting."_

"'Like this?' Come to think of it, didn't Track say something about 'half' superpowers?" the cat-creature continued to muse, looking over at the blonde as he pushed himself back to his feet. "There something I'm missing here?"

"Gah, this crap's just _crazy,_ dude." Ryuji complained, rolling his shoulder out as he winced briefly. "Spirit monsters and crazy teachers and stupid freakin' statue-levers..."

"And those kids in the Shujin uniforms, back there." Mask muttered, looking back towards the drawbridge. "...a _Palace,_ huh?"

"Mm-hm. A Palace is a location based on two things - a place in the material world, and the distorted desires of the person who created it." Mona told them easily, gesturing around. "Everything you're seeing is a reflection of the Ruler's mind, twisted by the thoughts and feelings and wants generated by that imbalance in their soul."

"...wait, so you're sayin' this place is _Kamoshida's head?!"_ Track demanded, disgust and horror raising his voice. "But - we were just tryin' to get to _school!"_

"It's probably based on that school of yours, then." Mona shrugged. "That's how these things tend to operate - a Palace will settle into the location that the Ruler thinks of as their 'base', so to speak. You two must have been unlucky enough to stumble into the Metaverse somehow from the material world."

Mask grimaced. "Unlucky... that sounds about right. And on the first day of school, too..."

"It's just like I was sayin', isn't it?!" Track exploded, face flushing red with anger; "that _pervy old bastard_ thinks of Shujin as his own personal _castle!_ Damn it, that makes so much sense it makes me wanna _bash his creepy face in!"_

"Not now, though!" Mona hurried to interrupt, before Track could turn around and storm back down to the cell they'd left Kamoshida in - "we've gotta at least find somewhere safe, first! Between just me and Mask we don't have nearly enough firepower to take on this Kamoshida's stronger subordinates, much less his actual Shadow!"

 _"His_ Shadow?" Akira muttered. "...no, you're right. We've been standing around talking in the open for long enough. Mona, Track, let's move it!"

"Gah! Fine, but we're gonna come back and kick his teeth out!" Ryuji shouted, before taking off at a run after the other two up the nearby staircase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track and Mask; temporary code-names, but ones that I think work well before the revelation of the traits that named Joker and Skull in-game.
> 
> Also, Ryuji and Morgana are much less combative here than in the actual game, obviously. Partly that's because the conversation flows differently here, but partly it's because the mood is a bit different - there's still a decent degree of tension, but the last chapter has calmed Akira and Ryuji somewhat from the 'oh shit run or die' mindset, and Morgana gets into that vibe fairly quickly. Akira being a bit more assertive about things (read: talking without active prompt) also changes how things go.
> 
> Make no mistake - all parties are a lot more confused than they're acting, but they're kind of in a rush here, and the obvious parts ARE pretty obvious. And after spirit monsters, superpowers, and a talking mascot character, Ryuji and Akira are in a bit more of an open-minded state overall.


End file.
